Labour Department inspectors identify 3 COVID-19 high risk malls from W Cape

The Labour Department’s Inspectors in the Western Cape have identified three Cape Town malls as high-risk areas in contracting the coronavirus.

Inspectors say crowd control and social distancing remain a huge challenge at the Bayside Mall in Tableview, Sandown in Sunningdale and the Promenade Mall in Mitchell’s Plain.

The Chief Provincial Labour Inspector David Esau says the malls risk possible closure if there is no improvement.

“The three high-risk malls in the Western Cape for me is the Bayside Mall. Unless there is better control of the crowd, we’re going to have more infections. The second one is the Sunningdale Sandown one, where I believe there is still not social distancing adhered to because the employer only allows social distancing in front of his door and not further than that. And then the Promenade Mall in Mitchell’s Plain where there is a huge influx of people and I believe even if the store allows 20 people outside then your internal controls are not gonna help because then you have already been infected by the time you enter the store,” says Esau.

The Labour Department’s Inspectors in the Western Cape say Checkers Stores in Tableview will remain closed indefinitely.

Provincial Chief Labour Inspector David Esau says it is the only Checkers store that had to be closed for a second time following a continued number of reported COVID-19 cases.

Esau says a reputable company will first vigorously deep clean the store before it is allowed to reopen.

“What happened there is the first case was identified and then they closed. Then all those that were in that area identified with the one person that is positive. All these people were tested and they came back negative. However, two weeks after that there was another employee that tested positive and that has now caused the shop to indefinitely closed, because to me it then means there is something wrong within that store. Because if deep-cleansing does not help or it’s a matter of not having anybody positive, then they will have to revisit, the whole store and do a complete deep-cleaning,” says Esau.

Addressing the media on Sunday, the Minister of Labour and Employment Thulas Nxesi has urged employers to implement the return to work measures to protect the health and safety of their employees.

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